Quick Hit Reviews – Week of April 27, 2011

The last Wednesday of the month is also know as “The Week When Marvel Tries to Kill Us” by releasing everything they possibly can so that we can all throw our backs out as we leave the comic shop.

New York Five #4 – Here is an early contender for “miniseries of the year” and I’m going to be highly pissed when it gets left off those lists in favor of a bunch of miniseries that end in December because comic fans have the attention span of a mosquito.  This whole series has been a really touching slice-of-life drama as we follow these young ladies in the spring semester of their freshman year at NYU.  This issue brought things home in a major way.  For one thing, someone dies and the characters are left to ponder on the transitory nature of their lives: They’re all moving on in life and the little group of friends is moving apart.  We’ve all been there and had friends who seemed like the most important things in our lives before something changed because someone took a new job or moved or signed up for classes at a different time of day from you, and you just drift apart.  That’s life and Brian Wood really nails that sentiment.  I’ve gushed on Ryan Kelly’s art before (and own an original page from issue #1), but not only does he do a tremendous job on the young ladies who are the center of this book, but he also makes “The City” a co-starring character itself.  This is a “must read” for everyone and especially so for anyone with any affinity for New York.  Grade: A 

Velocity #4 – Oh la la!  Kenneth Rocafort is a beast!  This series wraps up a very good and straightforward tale of Velocity racing against the clock to save her Cyberforce teammates from a deadly virus.  Every panel that Rocafort draws of Velocity just oozes energy.  She just looks fast even when she is standing still.  He’s got a really powerful understanding of human anatomy and muscle groups.  Sunny Gho does a pretty nice job of coloring too.  Even though the story was really simple, I think Ron Marz deserves some credit.  It’s almost like he knew that this series would take almost a year to come out and kept it simple so that each time all you had to remember was “race against the clock to save teammates.”  If you’re an art fan, this is a must-buy in collected form.  Grade: B+

Morning Glories #9 – This title continues to be confusing, but in a very good way.  Sometimes I get highly annoyed by books that are being mysterious and opaque (see: Batman, Inc.), but I think Nick Spencer is pulling off the confusion because we actually have a hope of learning some answers.  In this issue, we follow one of the students, Jun, and see his back story, how the Morning Glories Academy became interested in him and what lengths they were willing to go to in order to get him as a student.  Yikes!  Once again, I can’t wait for next month.  I’ve heard a lot of folks complain about the art in Morning Glories, but I really don’t get it.  It’s true that it isn’t JH Williams or Mike Kaluta, but I think Eisma is doing a wonderful job with telling the story in terms of his panels and layouts.  Grade: B+

FF #2 – The story here is pretty top notch as the FF has to fix Doom’s brain damage and it has all the moralistic tropes where there are opportunities to kill Doom that are passed upon.  Fortunately, Hickman doesn’t spend too much time dwelling on the morals because the idea of the FF seriously killing Doom is just preposterous.  And, we get a pretty cool cliffhanger ending featuring Valeria who is having a really nice run as a character under Hickman’s pen.  The only thing holding this back for me is Epting’s art.  It isn’t that I think Epting is a poor artist, but I just don’t think his realistic style is suited for FF.  I’d rather see Epting illustrate a crime story and let us have an artist who is more cartoonist on FF.  It doesn’t have to be outlandish cartooning. Let’s just have someone like Dale Eaglesham.  Grade: B

Velocity #3 – Review

By: Ron Marz (writer), Kenneth Rockfort (art), Sunny Gho (colors), Troy Peters (letters) & Filip Sablik (editor)

The Story: Velocity very-pleasing-to-the-eyes race to save her Cyberforce teammates continues.

What’s Good: Again, Kenneth Rocafort’s art is the main attraction here.  Just keep an eye on his name because he’s a guy who you’ll hear about in the future.  The guy is just very, very talented.  This issue is so pretty to look at that the story kinda fades into irrelevance.  I would probably say he has been heavily influenced by Greg Capullo’s art because I see a lot of similarities to that scratchy, hyper-detailed style.  But, what really set’s Rocafort apart is the dynamism of his figures.  You can tell he has a very good understanding of human anatomy and musculature because when you see his characters in an action scene, it looks like a still taken from a movie because the bodies are all in the proper positions (i.e. they are properly balanced and have correct posture) and the right muscle groups are all taut.  I’m not sure if he uses a lot of photo-reference or if he has just spent a lot of time studying bodies in motion, but the end product is nice.

And atta-boy should also be handed out to Sunny Gho’s colors.  Even though I feel like the girl-with-red-hair trick is almost cheating, I still fall for it every time.  So it must be a little harder than just saying, “Viola!  I give you…RED HAIR!” or else all colorists would do it.  What makes Gho’s work a little different than other comics that have the magical red hair (e.g. Batwoman) is that he is using a pretty bright color palate and it still works.  Nice job.

The story is nothing too remarkable in this issue.  Not bad, but the art is sooooo the main attraction that the story just needs to competent.  And, it accomplishes that as we follow Velocity as she tries to save her teammates from a virus that the bad guy has infected them with.  We do get a pretty big cliffhanger and I’ll be curious to see how that turns out.  The story’s simplicity also works very well with the publication delays this title has had.

Velocity #2 – Review

By: Ron Marz (writer), Kenneth Rocafort (art), Sunny Gho (colors) & Troy Peteri (letters)

The Story: Velocity is in a race against time to save her friends in this BEAUTIFUL comic book.

What’s Good: The attraction for this book is Kenneth Rocafort.  The man is a beast of an artist and should be on the list of names to buy regardless of what they are drawing.  Rocafort just has the complete package for an artist: excellent linework on humans creating realistic and dynamic characters, wonderful page layout skills so that we never have pages with 4 boring widescreen panels and interesting use of perspective because in comics “the camera” can be positioned ANYWHERE.  Rocafort makes Velocity look fast without often resorting to squiggly lines and smears of color in her wake.  That is a real feat!  He makes his characters look “real” without it appearing that he is tracing over a photograph.  Really, the guy is incredible, but a cheer should also go up from the crowd for Sunny Gho as this is a wonderfully colored book.  Everything is just rich, textured and beautiful.

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #2 – Review

By Mark Waid (Writer), Kenneth Rocafort (Art), and Sunny Gho of IFS (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The great looking first issue of Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer definitely started things off on the right foot for the Mark Waid and Kenneth Rocafort mini-series. Though Waid used a tried-and-true formula to set up the crossover, I found myself appreciating it because I’m fairly new to both the Cyberforce and the Hunter-Killer stuff. Sure, they were in that Fusion mini-series with the Avengers that I reviewed, but it was hard to really get a bead on the teams with so many characters running around.

The Story: Ellis desperately tries to smooth things over between Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer as he reveals the truth behind Morningstar and his connection with the Cyberdata Corporation.

What’s Good: The main reason you should pick up Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #2 is because Kenneth Rocafort is just so damned good at what he does. His work may look gritty and rough at first glance, but upon closer inspection, it’s hard to deny how sleek and sexy Rocafort’s style is, especially when it comes to his character work. And thankfully, as far as the art is concerned, Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #2 isn’t a case of style over substance in any way (though, thanks a great deal to Sunny Gho’s color choices, it is definitely stylish). Rocafort’s action scenes are dynamic (I really like how he handles Velocity’s powers), his attention to detail is mighty impressive (seriously, check out the panels that feature some sort of complex technology), and his smooth storytelling is complimented by some slick panel layouts.

So the artwork is quite kick-ass in the second Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer issue. How about the writing? Mark Waid does a nice job of handling the necessary exposition while moving both teams forward towards an interesting enough goal. In particular, I really like the “Jett” technology concept that’s revealed to be driving the overall plot. Also worth mentioning is the dialogue that’s exchanged between Cyberforce and Hunter-Killer. Waid nails the tension, yet also tosses in some sharp, surprisingly funny lines to keep things from feeling overly serious or pretentious.

What’s Not So Good: I’ve only got one complaint about the artwork and one complaint about the writing. The negative thing about the artwork is that occasionally backgrounds look a bit plain, bland, and sterile. It’s not such a big deal, but it’s noticeable enough to mention. The negative thing about the writing is that there’s no avoiding the sense that a portion of the book is dedicated to an information dump. It’s necessary for the plot, yet it feels a bit clunky.

Conclusion: Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #2 is well worth picking up. Kenneth Rocafort’s artwork is great and Mark Waid’s definitely got some cool ideas driving the story along.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny

Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 – Review

By Mark Waid (Writer), Kenneth Rocafort (Art), and Sunny Gho of IFS (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’ll admit to not being all that familiar with either Cyberforce or Hunter-Killer. Truth be told, it is the creative team that got me to pick up the first issue of the heavily hyped Top Cow mini-series.

The Story: The Hunter-Killer team, working to track down other Ultra-Sapiens, launches an attack on Cyberforce. As it turns out, the members of Hunter-Killer may have bitten off more than they can chew.

What’s Good: Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 is really welcoming to new readers, which is a good thing because it’s a book you’re probably not going to want to miss once things really start rolling. Right from the odd opening, writer Mark Waid lays down a solid foundation for a crossover while doing a nice job of introducing both teams (and the universe they exist in) that are going to be fighting and (probably) joining forces for the greater good. The artwork by Kenneth Rocafort, meanwhile, manages to be gritty, sexy, and stylish all at once without ever failing to tell a story (for the most part). Rocafort’s work makes Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 look truly unique and almost worth the price of admission alone.

What’s Not So Good: You’ve read Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 before. I don’t mean that literally, but I mean it in the sense that it feels exactly like almost every other crossover that’s come before it. The stage is set, the teams are introduced, there’s some revelation, and then…uh oh…to be continued. You’ve seen it before, you’ve read it before, and there’s no getting around that fact. Now, that’s not to say that the formula doesn’t work, because it does. It still warrants a mention though, so that’s why I bring it up.

Conclusion: If you can get pass the generic “beginning to a crossover” feel that dominates the book, Cyberforce/Hunter-Killer #1 is well-worth checking out. Mark Waid’s got some cool ideas in play and Kenneth Rocafort’s work deserves to get noticed.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Fusion #2 – Review

By Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Writers), Tyler Kirkham (Pencils), and Sal Regla (Inks)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Fusion #1 was a fun ’90s throwback comic. It was dated as hell, but if you just went with the crazy stuff going on, there was far more to like than hate. Plus, you really can’t go wrong with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.

The Story: The Avengers and Cyberforce battle it out because of the Ripclaw situation. It’s soon learned that something is linked to Ripclaw in some way and that something is now in the hands of Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts….

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: You can look at Fusion in one of two ways: it’s either an action-packed crossover that delivers where it matters most or a dated, tired crossover that serves as a reminder of why comics like Fusion no longer work well. That’s why it’s so difficult to write a review about Fusion #2. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the second chapter of Fusion is “review proof.” If you like it, I can totally understand why. If you hate it, I can totally understand why. It’s a great example of what made some of those “bad” comics so much fun, but also a great example of how silly and nonsensical they are. Make sense?

Now, on a technical level, Fusion #2 is surprisingly solid. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning do a nice job of bringing out every personality that’s part of Fusion’s cast. They write a number of entertaining character moments and have come up with an interesting enough reason to throw four different teams from two different companies together for a showdown. As for the artwork, Tyler Kirkham does a fine job of handling a number of chaotic scenes, though a few panels look awkward and rather “pose” heavy.

Conclusion: If it sounds like your type of thing, then by all means pick up Fusion #2. If it sounds like your comic book version of hell, then be sure to stay far, far away.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny